Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

The clone bug (I think it’s already fixed in the HD mod) is a terrible thing: if it happens, the game crashes, and it’s especially frustrating when you’re almost victorious after a long and difficult battle. :(

I try to avoid cloning units near the edge of the map or in a crowd of units, or near obstacles, just to be on the safe side.

Or, when there isn't enough space, the clone can appear one cell away from the original, or it might play a sound and the clone appears outside the map. After such a battle, the original stack, to which the clone was applied, disappears, even if all units are still intact.

In short, after defeating Ethernia, I don't know where to go. Everywhere there are towers that require visiting tents and giving artifacts. I probably missed some "cool" disguised paths or didn't properly block the exit portals. I would like to beat Deis and his 9999 minotaurs, Ashwing 2, and others, but I guess I'll have to abandon the game for an indefinite period (last time I abandoned Paragon for about a year))), and during that time, an updated version of Paragon 2.0 appeared on the site with an improved witch's hut that gives fire magic, and the "upgraded" Yabarax was removed.
So, I'm at a crossroads, thinking about Lord of War or 007 chases Dr. No.

In 007 chases Dr. No, I'm confused by the actions of the mapmakers that Marmot pointed out. Maybe they cast Flight or wore an artifact that allowed them to fly?

Since we're on the topic, here's another oddity or bug to add to the collection; I don't think it's been described anywhere (at least, I haven't read about it anywhere). I mentioned it in November last year:

That is, ranged attacks do not remove Berserk from the attacked stack. This can be used very effectively when the AI opponent has only this one stack and cannot reach our stacks. Without Berserk, you would have to cast Blindness on this stack every round, consuming a lot of mana, but now it's free! :) I discovered this by chance at the time, and later figured out how it works, and once, I even used it intentionally.

Continuing the theme of bugs. I finally managed to complete a battle with 5 Chaos Hydras against 90 Roars without any losses. It passes through two points: namely, the Berserk bug, where a creature under the spell becomes inactive (as far as I understand, this is related to the fact that in a certain position, it should attack the left cell of a two-hex creature standing next to it, but the nearest cell is on the right) and the fear of the Roars receiving retaliation from the Hydras for 2 or more stacks of their troops. The Berserk effect and the inactivity of the stack under it continue even after our attacks. Here's the video (there were some problems with screen capture; I haven't figured out what's wrong yet, so I uploaded it like this).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxhcsw4f2RI

Added 6 minutes later
Bug-Race took 2 days of head-scratching, but I still couldn't complete it; it's a very tricky map.)

Following up on the topic of bugs. I finally managed to complete a battle with 5 Chaos Hydras against 90 Rogues without any losses. It can be done in two ways: first, by exploiting the Berserk bug, where the creature under the spell becomes inactive (as far as I understand, this is because in a certain position, it should attack the left cell of a two-hex creature standing next to it, but the nearest cell is on the right); and second, by preventing the Rogues from being overwhelmed by the Hydras when they have 2 or more stacks of their troops. The Berserk effect and the inactivity of the stack under it continue even after our attacks. Here's the video (there were some issues with screen capture, I haven't figured out what's wrong yet, so I uploaded it like this).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxhcsw4f2RI

Added 6 minutes later
Bug-Race, after 2 days of trying, I still haven't managed to complete it; it's a very tricky map.

Oh dear, the developers clearly didn't plan for this; someone should fix all these loopholes.
By the way, what's that creepy sound on the channel under the video of the battle on the Heroes of Jin Yong map, titled "Easy battle from Heroes of Jin Yong"?

Oh oh, the developers clearly didn't plan for this; someone should fix all these bugs.
By the way, what's that creepy sound on the channel under the video of the battle on the Heroes of Jin Yong map, titled "Easy battle from Heroes of Jin Yong"?

The creepy sound is a classic example of German industrial electronic music, by the band Genocide Organ :D

In 007 chases Dr. No, the actions of the mapmakers that Marmot pointed out are confusing. Perhaps they cast Flight or were wearing an artifact that allowed them to fly?

That's right: the Wings of the Angel allow you to fly to Inferno. But you'll have to fly to Necropolis without them: they need to be given to the passage guard. What to do if you don't have air magic - I wrote in the attached file with tips.
And "Bug-Race" in the name probably hints at using game bugs.

The name "Bug-Race" probably hints at exploiting game bugs.

Exactly. Besides the berserker bug, it uses the sacrifice bug, the firewall bug, the admiral's hat bug, the earthquake bug, and the infinite ballista shot bug. Despite having figured out dozens of the author's tricks, I still got stuck somewhere halfway through. I'll think about it a bit more myself, but I feel like I'll have to write to Nautilus to get some hints. For example, one of the battles that's stopping me: we only have 10 upgraded snakes and 10 red dragons, there's an angel alliance, we can drop part of the army in a neighboring garrison, we need to attack a hero defending a castle (fort without ranged towers), who has 3 stacks: 1000 azure dragons, 1000 gold dragons, 1000 ancient creatures. We can't lose anyone, there's no force field, resurrection, or berserker, but almost all other magic is available.

I'm stuck with the Bug-Race walkthrough. I wrote to Nautilus about this; maybe he can help with some hints. I definitely don't see any way to progress in all three problematic areas. It seems like I need to use some new bugs that I don't know about yet.

Marmot asked me to describe other interesting maps I've played. I have a few of those. Here's one of them.

Map Name: Harry Potter
Author: Aeris Quamarine
Downloaded: from the Heroesportal map catalog

As with Season, we're dealing with a marvel of Chinese map-making. Despite some formal similarities in the approach to map creation (using high-level heroes, the need to survive in the early days of the playthrough), Aeris is less academic and meticulous, and more chaotic and prone to all sorts of wild things. Because of this, the playthrough can be very difficult at some stages, and even a little tedious due to its uneventfulness.

Now, about the playthrough itself.

I think many people have tried playing Harry Potter, but very few have had the strength and patience to get past the first week of the game. The main problem is the first serious battle at the end of the seventh day against a hero who appears from the portal near the castle. Obviously, the enemy specializes in hypnosis (level 5920), but when replaying this battle, our hero levels up infinitely. Therefore, after significantly weakening the enemy, you need to run away and finish him off with another hero. Fortunately, there's a tavern nearby. More or less, all the guests who periodically visit us from the portal are defeated according to this scenario (in fact, only one battle out of all the upcoming ones really made me sweat).

The second difficulty that arises for the player on the very first day of the game: how to properly equip Harry Potter for swimming (the map is almost 100% water), given that he will only return home at the very end of the playthrough, and starts without artifacts or an army (without a single unit)? As it turns out, this question arises due to the map author's oversight. In general, he didn't plan that Potter could meet other heroes on the first day and take something from them (I read about this in the comments of Aeris himself). I would advise you to get into a boat with Potter without anything; it will be more interesting. He will acquire everything he needs in battles.

For Potter, only the first two weeks of the game are critical for the playthrough. During this period, you need to get either Armageddon's Blade or the Amulet of Courage (the first option is preferable). After that, we are not bound by any time constraints and do whatever we want.

Personally, I only encountered navigational difficulties until the very final battle. The paths on the map are not obvious even after carefully studying it in the editor. I really got lost a couple of times, although this has never happened to me even when playing Jedi Story or Vengeance Is Mine, which are famous for the need for constant pixel hunting.

Separately, I'll say a few words about the finale. Aeris packed Voldemort well. Harry Potter defeated him with great difficulty, even though three 4000 Archdevils joined Potter as random monsters at level 7 (what luck!). But after completing the playthrough, I figured out a way to win the finale in a quick battle without losses (sick!).

Briefly about the pros and cons of the map. Among the advantages (although this may turn some people off) is Aeris's unique authorial style, the use of previously unseen techniques, such as playing as Snape (also known as Astral) of an extreme level (as a rule, hypnosis is used very rarely, but here an entire series of battles is fought only with him), huts of the seer that take away all the experience from the hero, playing with a negative number of fairy dragons (as it turns out, they increase the number of allied troops in the first round with a planar cast), and so on. I also found the idea of a completely water-based map interesting; I hadn't encountered such maps before. If we talk about the disadvantages, then first of all, the author's carelessness in some moments stands out: the aforementioned possibility of Potter meeting other heroes on day 1, randomness in huge stacks of level 7, which we join and from which we form the basis for the final battle, the boring sea voyage after overcoming the culminating moment in the game, when all the enemies coming to the starting location are defeated. But overall, the pros outweigh the cons. The map is definitely worth a look.

I finished the playthrough on day 715. It could have been much earlier, but I had to wander around looking for paths.

Marlo_Stanfield, thank you for another insightful review! I doubt I'll play maps with features like:

a level 5920 hypnosis specialist

Harry Potter... starting without an army (without a single unit)

seer huts that steal all the hero's experience

a game with a negative number of fairy dragons

. It's interesting to read about them, though.
However, there's a map that might be of interest to you, which I'm currently trying to complete. Depending on how it goes, I'll either recommend it to hardcore fans or NOT recommend it to anyone. It's probably no coincidence that it's not yet featured in the largest online map collections (HeroesPortal, Maps4Heroes, CelestialHeavens), and I haven't found any reviews of it other than the one I learned about it from (and that website is no longer working; I only have a saved page and an archive with the map), and Rashid's review (he claims that it can be completed in 2 months, which is what tempted me, but it turned out to be more difficult, and without preparation, you can either fail or get stuck for a long time).

Here's a map that you might find interesting; I'm currently trying to complete it. Depending on how it goes, I'll either recommend it to hardcore fans or advise against it – it's probably no coincidence that it's not yet featured in the largest online map collections (HeroesPortal, Maps4Heroes, CelestialHeavens), and I haven't found any reviews about it other than the one where I learned about it (and that website is no longer working; all that remains is a saved page and an archive of the map on my computer) and Rashid's review (he claims that it can be completed in 2 months, which is what tempted me, but it turned out to be more difficult, and without preparation, you can easily fail or get stuck for a long time).

I'm interested; I'll be waiting for your report. I'm always happy to see challenging maps.

Is the map not "Gates" by any chance? The one where you run away from the Death Knights, etc., at the beginning? It's not listed anywhere either. And in general, there are about ten interesting maps that you can't find anywhere. But because of the activity, I didn't suggest anything to anyone; basically, in the Marlo thread with hardcore gameplay, it's me and Marmot.

Is the map not by chance "Gates"? Where at the beginning we run away from the Death Knights, etc.
It's also nowhere to be found.
And in general, there are about a dozen interesting maps that can't be found anywhere.
But because of the activity, I didn't start suggesting anything to anyone; basically, in Marlo's hardcore thread, it's me and Marmot.

Hello everyone.

Please don't stop your fascinating discussion and map reviews. You have many readers who appreciate it:smile02:.

I've wanted to say a big thank you to Marmont, Pomazok, and other participants in this thread for a long time:smile20:, thanks to you, I started playing Heroes again.
And this thread is simply a treasure trove of interesting maps and descriptions of how to complete them.

Natty, hello! On some websites (of various themes), I am also almost exclusively a reader. :) If you have something to share, please tell us: which maps did you like, which ones did you remember, and which ones couldn't you complete and why? Pomazok1329, you are talking about the same thing again. I am flattered by such an opinion, but I am a very average player myself, and I try to complete maps that don't seem too difficult. I started keeping a separate list of those that I couldn't complete. Out of those that I couldn't complete in the first few years, I recently managed to complete 3-4 of them on the second attempt.

Is the map by any chance Gates?

No, I mentioned it above: Astral Venice.